The wolf — the notorious grey

Created: May 30, 2022 9:52 AM

Canis lupus

Height: 70–80 cm

Weight: 30–50 kg

There are few animals about which so many stories exist as the wolf. It appears in many fairy tales, fables and myths — where it is usually used as a metaphor for divine intervention, or for unruly forces of nature.

The wolf of reality, by contrast, is somewhat simpler, and lives a life that in certain respects can resemble a little how humans live. Especially when it comes to the wolf pack. A wolf pack begins when a pair of wolves join together, mark out a territory and have pups together. The wolf pack is thus a classic nuclear family — mother, father and children. The mother and father take care of most of the provision of food, the protection of the territory and the rearing of the young. The pups will usually live together with their mother and father until they are sexually mature. Then the great majority leave the pack. The mother and father have new pups each year.

Wolves are adaptable and can live wherever they can find food. In Norway, the Storting has decided that wolves are to be found only within the so-called wolf zone along the Swedish border in Hedmark, Akershus and Østfold. Individual animals on the move may nonetheless turn up scattered across the country.

In Norway, in recent years we have had around a hundred wolves in total. Half of these live as much in Sweden as in Norway.

What if you meet a wolf?

In Norway the wolf hunts primarily moose and roe deer. It is generally very wary of humans and would rather keep its distance from us. Meeting a wolf is therefore very difficult! On the rare occasions it happens, it typically involves young, inexperienced animals that do not understand what you are. Then you can jump and bounce around while making scary human noises! The wolf will then probably quickly grasp that this is frightening stuff — and clear off.

Photo: Bjørn Henrik Stavdal Johansen

Next steps

• Wildlife and tracks — the hub
• The lynx — the tiger of the North — other large carnivores
• The brown bear — the big brown one — other large carnivores
• The wolverine — the mountain’s scavenger — other large carnivores

Learn more

• Artsdatabanken — species, status, Red List
• Miljødirektoratet — large carnivores — management
• NINA — Norsk institutt for naturforskning — research on Norwegian fauna
• Naturveilederen — Bjørn Henrik Stavdal Johansen — nature interpretation